Forty-eight years later and it is still the most iconic image that truly captures the watershed moment in the Struggle against apartheid South Africa.
Three youngsters: A 19-year-old Mbuyisa Makhubu running after apartheid cops unleashed a hail of live ammunition on school kids in Soweto.
Running beside him is Antoinette Sithole, the elder sister of the dying boy, Hector Pieterson, whom Mbuyisa is carrying.
June 16, 1976 — the start of the Soweto Uprising.
Sam Nzima's camera catches the final dying moments of the boy in the arms of Mbuyisa, seconds after the baby brother of Antoinette is shot.
It also capture the historic moment, the turning point in Struggle.
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The documentary explores Nzima’s life and the significant events that shaped it.
With exclusive interviews with Nzima himself, and anecdotes from those close to him and experts, the film takes viewers on an engaging journey through Nzima’s rise from humble beginnings to becoming a pivotal chronicler of history.
This film started as a group project, says Nhlanhla, when there were people who wanted to build a Sam Nzima photography school, monument, and museum in Mpumalanga.
“It was going to be a big project,” he tells Drum.
“There were designers and architects, and I was driving every week to Mpumalanga from Joburg, but the project didn’t happen.
“However, because of the few interactions I had with Sam and my love for archives, I decided to work on a documentary telling a story of his life.”
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When they first met, Nhlanhla says he only knew about the Hector Pieterson image and was later introduced to his other work and also learned more about his story.
“He was sceptical about doing a documentary because people always came to him, promised him things and they never came to fruition.”
That was the catalyst for Nhlanhla, because he loves these kinds of stories.
Years later, he premiered the doccie at the Joburg Film Festival that took place last month at the Sandton Convention Centre.
“This was after I showed his son the offline version of the documentary and he loved it. I then decided that more people needed to see the doccie.
In this exclusive interview, he learned that Nzima didn’t get any form of formal education and yet was so passionate about photography that he started taking pictures when he was in high school.
“When I did this doccie, I wanted to tell that part so that people can know these kinds of stories.
“He didn’t suffer because of his photography but because of the oppression and injustices of the regime.”
